The Last Stand
by TheUndyingCrystal
Summary: Only a year after Annalise Brevard allied herself with the Xenomorph colony on C-04 and defeated Weyland-Yutani's force there, Head Chairman and wolf-hybrid Samuel Ulysses has taken up the reins of meting out retribution towards those responsible and Richard Tanner is the only thing standing in his way. :Sequel to IlthraDanar's The Guardian and prequel to Thicker than Blood:
1. The Promise of Samuel Ulysses

_**Since this isn't my first Alien/Predator categorized fanfic, I suppose I should definitely warn my readers about this. It is not connected to The Interceptor's Survivors or The Madness Within. I am not accepting OCs this time around, to my regret.**_

_**I am doing this in collaboration with IluthraDanar, closing the gap between The Guardian and Thicker than Blood. I highly suggest you read the two, since this story will make ZERO sense if you haven't any familiarity with her works on the subject.**_

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"Uh…Mr. Chairman?" A feminine voice crackled through my intercom.

"…Yes, Madison?" I sighed, taking a puff of my cigar.

"The expedition to the colony…well, the report arrived." She sounded nervous.

"Put it in my mailbox…" I answered dismissively and took another puff, sending a ring of smoke across the room.

All the shades were pulled down, and the only light that existed in the room was the dim glow of my computer screen.

"It's important, sir. The mission, well…the mission failed." She finally blurted through the com.

I twitched as she spoke the words, crushing the cigar in my hand.

"…Failed. Our men failed." I smiled, but I was seething with anger inside.

I stood from my desk and opened a drawer.

"Call Drayden here. I believe he was the one who coordinated the expedition." I put the remains of the cigar in my ashtray, and pulled out a shiny metal object.

It was long ago that people had stopped using the conventional .357 magnum, but I still felt a certain sense of conformation with the outdated weapon.

I ejected the inner case and checked to make sure it was loaded, and cocked the hammer.

"Yes, sir. I will call Mr. Frederick here immediately." She coughed timidly, and the com clicked off.

The blinds opened, revealing my face.

I was, as the human scientists would put it, an anthropomorphic wolf that stood upright like a human. I had a brain that rivaled the best military strategists, the most conniving politicians, and the most effective businessman on the planet.

I shifted about, readjusting my lapel. I wore tuxedos all the time, preferring the formality and the comfort that a tux, a pair of black slacks, and a bowtie offered.

My bushy tail flicked about briefly, my yellow eyes adjusting to the harsh light.

"Failed…expedition." I gritted my canines and closed my eyes, sliding the hammer back into the safety and tucking the weapon in my coat.

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"Business plans fail. Hostile takeovers fail. Schoolchildren fail. However, Drayden Frederick, when colonies infested with unknown aliens that could make the company trillions…you do not fail." My voice was calm and friendly as I paced across the room.

"Y-yes, I know that, Chairman Samuel." He was breathing hard and sweating as he looked downwards.

"…Why did it fail? A hive of aliens were expected. Your men were trained to deal with them. Why did it fail?" I asked forcibly.

"…Major…Major Richard Tanner, sir." He answered with a gulp.

I drew my revolver and cocked the hammer while my back was turned to him.

"Richard Tanner…he was the US military's commanding officer during their initial attempt to retake the facility. Why would he have stopped you?" I let out a chuckle with my back still to him.

"…A woman…she…she…a human woman…she became their queen…and Tanner helped them." He tried to explain.

"…Inconvenient, Mr. Frederick. I'm afraid your usefulness has been outlived…and there is only one way out of your job." I turned finally, shifting the gun behind my back and approaching him from the back.

"S-sir, I swear it! Chairman Samuel!" He begged, his last words deaf to my ears.

I shifted back, revealing the magnum. Just before he could attempt to move, I pulled the trigger.

His head practically exploded across my desk, the rest of his body slouching over and falling to the ground.

"Hmm…this newer, larger caliber seems to be working out quite well." I blew the smoke from the barrel of the gun and slid it into my coat.

I leaned down, removing the object from his pocket.

The recording he had recovered from the incident.

"…Major Richard Tanner…he is a dead man." I muttered, taking a look through the file.

My secretary, Tracy, burst in.

"Mr. Chairman, I heard gunfire—AIIE!" She let out a gasp of terror when she saw the corpse.

"Ms. Mable, I would suggest you call the cleaning crew up here. Poor Mr. Frederick here needs a nap…in a trash compactor." I told her pointedly, not looking up from the data tablet from Drayden's pocket. Tracy let out another squeak of affirmation as she disappeared.

Then I saw her.

A young woman that appeared to be leading the aliens in battle, the attack having apparently started after the death of the queen.

"…Who is this woman?" I wondered out loud and slid the tablet into my pocket.

One way or another…I would find out her name, and she would pay for the insult she has dealt me and Weyland-Yutani.

So promises Head Chairman Samuel Ulysses of Weyland-Yutani Corporation.


	2. A Wonderful Turn of Events

"I want an explanation as to WHY the mission failed, Mr. Roderick. A few aliens were expected. The men we sent were trained to deal with a hive of Xenomorphs, yet the best our men could accomplish was the death of their Queen. And that was done by an ANDROID! AN ANDROID!" I roared angrily, the Head of the Department of Alien Life-Forms shivering nervously.

"I honestly don't know why Major Tanner defied orders and took sides with the aliens. Perhaps it would've been more prudent to inform them of what they were going up against…" He responded quickly, sweating profusely.

"Don't be condescending with me, you pompous little bastard. Now I've got the DALF, YOUR department, up my ass about our little unauthorized expedition and attempt to capture an unknown life form." I cut him off, my patience already gone.

"That's over my head, sir. The Presidential Committee ordered us to do it. If we hadn't, our motives and connections to Weyland-Yutani would've been put up to question." He explained hastily.

"And that would be bad, wouldn't it? Considering now that the Committee has banned us from coming back to the C-04 Compound at this point, it is a mute point! There is possibly trillions of dollars riding on this project, and the company cannot afford to lose this contract!" I slammed my fist on the desk as I continued.

"W-Well, sir…I did receive confidential information about Tanner. He's on his way back to Earth for another meeting with the Committee." John Roderick blurted out quickly.

"…Hmmm…interesting. Call Dr. Thomas here…I have a little job for him." I stopped briefly, and smiled widely as the wheels in my mind began turning.

He bowed, and left quickly.

I turned my chair and looked out the window.

"…Major Richard Tanner…I look forward to meeting you." I took out my pocket watch and checked the time.

It wouldn't take the good Xenobiologist long to get here.

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"Ah…Layton. Nice of you to come and see me on such short notice. I hear that the Committee has been keeping you busy." I smiled thinly as the well-known scientist and renowned professor took his seat.

"Of course, Samuel. We've been friends for a long time, haven't we? A little visit like this, I think, wouldn't destroy my schedule entirely, would it?" He smiled back, shaking my extended hand as I sat down.

"Now…since you are pressed for time and all that…I'll make it quick. Two names. Richard Tanner. Annalise Brevard. I trust you recognize them." I typed a few words on my computer.

"W-Well, yes…yes of course! Richard was a good friend of mine when I was in the military corp. Had to leave when my knee got shot out by a malfunctioning drone, but we still write letters and all that. Unfortunately, the other name is a mystery to me." He was initially shocked to hear the name, but quickly regained his composure.

"Maybe this will jog your memory." I tossed a yellow package on the desk. Imprinted aside the classified stamp was the designation for the colony, C-04.

"C-04…C-04…wasn't that…oh, dear." He thought for a moment, but realized quickly of what I was speaking of.

"Yes, Dr. Thomas. The Xenomorph incident. The same G-14 classified assignment that the Committee is all hush-hush about. The same one that the good Major is involved in heavily." My smile was wider, but little humor was behind it.

"You're here to blackmail me." He sighed, taking off his glasses.

"Blackmail is such a messy word. I prefer…a realignment of loyalty and priority. What do you know about the incident? Tell me every last detail." I scowled quickly, and leaned back into my chair to listen to him.

"Not much. I've only been in the labs for a week. I was shoved into the commission by the Committee without knowing half of the details. They've simply given me DNA samples to test and data to verify about the colony. This Annalise person was mentioned once or twice in the military personnel reports, I believe. The samples contained human DNA, or at least some traces of a similar strand, but they were…alien." He began, fishing a USB drive out of his pocket and putting it on my desk.

"I…I copied the data files onto this jump drive…and stole this. I'm not quite sure what it could be. The people they allowed me to speak to claimed it belonged to something called a "Queen". They refused to tell me more…so I managed to smuggle a small piece of the sample out. This is it." He placed a small black shard on the desk. The Xenomorph Queen's crest, or at least a piece of it.

"Doctor Thomas, you naughty naughty man…" I couldn't resist grinning as I picked up the shard and examined it. It was a wonderful turn of events.

"I heard from Richard a month before he was shipped out. He claimed that he was leading a reclamation effort of the C-04 colony, which the company had lost contact with." Layton continued.

"That was the last you heard before then? Hmm…let me see that flash drive." I grabbed it and plugged it in.

Thousands of files were contained within it, ranging from maintenance reports to crime records on the colony. Roughly fifty contained information I cared to read. Most were video clips of the colonist's last moments before they were killed, cocooned, or dragged away for either of the favored ends that their captors particularly desired.

"It's rather unfortunate that the android failed his mission. After all, I never would've expected such a betrayal." I mused, and Layton gave me an incredulous look. I waved my hand at him, gesturing for the professor to take his leave.

"May I have my drive back?" He requested, but I shook my head.

"You can have it…when I've sufficiently looked over it and decided I'm done with it. You may take your leave, Dr. Layton." I responded coolly.

It was reluctantly and humiliatingly that he began walking out of my office.

"Oh, Doctor…who is the diplomat presiding over the company affairs? I would like to talk to him." I stopped him briefly, still looking at the monitor.

"Her name is Gabriella Thomas. My niece." He replied, his voice tense and his pride clearly hurt.

"Your niece, huh? She's going on…what, twenty?" I paused in disbelief.

"Twenty-two, actually." He closed the door hard.

"Great. Another problem to deal with." I muttered behind my desk after the door shut.

Gabriella was known, despite only having been in the military as both an officer and as a diplomat for four years, for her skill at persuasion and as a tactician.

The worst of it was…she was a hardcore anti-corruption type. Hated bribes and corporations like Weyland-Yutani for their shadier practices.

But I wasn't famous for giving up. And neither was I famous for not having ways to have people I didn't like dealt with in an efficient manner.


End file.
